1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to an attachment for a ladder, and more particularly, the invention is directed to an improved detachable platform which can easily be locked into position for use by painters and other laborers who require stable footing when working while standing on a ladder, especially when the work requires the laborer to stand on the platform for extended periods of time and at varying heights above ground level during the work activity.
The invention further relates to an improved safety feature for ladder attachments which provides for locking the platform to the ladder. More particularly, the invention is directed to providing a mechanism for the attachment of the platform in a secure, fixed position, without the use of tools or complicated mechanical measures, which can be accomplished while the laborer is standing on a ladder rung at heights above ground level. The device, in its locked position, would fix the platform in a generally horizontal plane, enabling the laborer to have stable footing thereon, without any obstruction from the ladder attachment. The device can also be used to place containers or articles thereon for the laborer's use over extended periods of time. The invention is particularly suited for use by painters and other types of laborers who during the course of their work activity have to constantly adjust their height from ground level, yet require stable footing while accomplishing exacting work.
The invention can be used for a variety of applications, and the method of construction of the device is more fully described herein.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various prior art ladder attachment devices and ladders, and the like, as well as their apparatuses and the method of their construction in general, are known and are found to be exemplary of the U.S. prior art. They are:
______________________________________ Inventor U.S. Pat. No. ______________________________________ B. H. Ziegler and D. Betzner 745,750 C. M. Dollerhide 1,920,552 K. C. Miller 2,500,559 E. H. Chapman 3,511,338 W. R. Lincourt 4,482,030 ______________________________________
The Lincourt patent is for a safety platform which has L-shaped hooks used for attachment to the upper and lower rungs. Dollerhide shows a detachable ladder step secured to two rungs of the ladder; U-shaped hooks are used for securing the invention to the upper rung. Chapman's invention also utilizes U-shaped brackets, but uses them to secure the device to the lower rung; steel hooks secure the stand to the upper rung. This invention is particularly suited for supporting one end of a plank which at its opposite end is supported by a like ladder stand upon a ladder.
The Miller patent is directed to a ladder platform wherein the base is pivotably secured to one rung and swinging hook means are adjustable to various positions by means of notched formations in the side flanges of the platform.
Ziegler and Betzner disclose an extension ladder with a moveable and adjustable shelf which is also secured in place by hooks projecting from the shelf to two rungs of the ladder. The extension feature of the ladder employs a bracing mechanism to secure the extended ladder in its adjusted position; steel wires are drawn taut by means of nuts on the ends of bolts to the required tension for the purpose of forming a truss.
These patents or known prior uses teach and disclose various types of ladders and ladder attachment devices of sorts and of various manufactures, and the like, as well as methods of their construction; but none of them, whether taken singly or in combination, disclose the specific details of the combination of the invention in such a way as to bear upon the claims of the present invention.